Cemetery markers found in backyard

Gravestones appear to be from National

These tombstones are among 13 discovered buried in a Midtown yard. Cemetery officials will seek their origin.

Stone markers of death are not usually found in a garden full of blooming flowers.

But on Saturday, Jason Blackburn, a nurse at Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women, was shocked to discover 13 tombstones related to veterans in the backyard of his Midtown home.

While cleaning a stone walkway leading to his dog's playpen, Blackburn mistook the first tombstone for another garden stone. As he began to clear away the dirt, he saw the beige stone had inscriptions.

"My first reaction was, 'Oh my goodness, I hope there's not dead bodies in my backyard,'" said Blackburn, 35. "I mean that's the first reaction when you're digging in your backyard and you find tombstones."

Blackburn, who has lived in the house for about a year, uncovered the markers buried about 3 inches in the ground, but he is unsure if there are more.

"That's kind of a creepy number to have 13 tombstones," Blackburn said, noting that the house was built in 1913. "It's kind of a creepy coincidence."

After his initial shock, Blackburn Googled the names on the tombstones. One name, Pvt. Arthur Woodson, linked the 1960s-era gravestones to Memphis National Cemetery.

Ramon Miller, director of the Memphis National Cemetery as well as the National Cemetery in Little Rock and Corinth, Miss., said he and other cemetery officials plan to retrieve the tombstones Tuesday. He said their origins cannot be determined until the investigation is complete.

"Honestly, I don't have a theory of how this happened," Miller said. "They're government property and shouldn't have left the cemetery."

This is not the first incident of veteran markers being removed from graves. In June 2010, several headstones were found in a creek bed in the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Miller said old tombstones are supposed to be destroyed by grinding off the names of the deceased.

The previous owners of the house told Blackburn they had no idea that the partially covered beige block was a tombstone or that so many laid in their backyard.

Blackburn hopes they can be returned to their rightful place.

"It's just kind of a mystery now to see how they got here," Blackburn said.